You're No Child
by all she wrote
Summary: One morning Kenshin mistakenly refers to Kaoru as a child. She uses Kenshin's worst quality about his past self, jealousy, against him in attempts to draw him in. Soon the situation of seduction and torture are turned drastically around on Kaoru.
1. Sleepless Nights

One morning Kenshin mistakenly refers to Kaoru as a child. Kaoru takes this to heart and begins to act differently toward Kenshin and her friends, changing her appearance and attitude. She uses Kenshin's worst quality about his past self, jealousy, against him in attempts to draw him in. Soon the situation of seduction and torture are turned drastically around on Kaoru.

**Chapter One**

Pinks, yellows, blues and oranges cast their beauty along the morning horizon surrounded by a vague morning mist blown through the air cooling the young girl's creamy porcelain complexion causing loose strands of hair to sway with the light breeze.

Kaoru would never dare awake earlier then she had to, but last night, in fact every night for the last week had been the same. Sleep would not come easily to her. She was indeed tired. When her heavy eye lids drifted shut all she saw was Kenshin and therefore could not sleep. Her sapphire eyes remained relentlessly open. However, the calmness of her surroundings were taking their effect on her. The light breeze that caused the loose strands of her hair to sway whistled quietly around her ears, practically urging her into sleep.

Her legs hung tiredly over the porch as her shoulder slumped against the wooden post along with which her head rested. The wind cooled and relaxed her body, almost to the point of …

"Miss Kaoru," a light voice came from behind, startling her. Her body tensed and her head quickly snapped up pulling herself out of her sleepy daze.

"Oh gosh Kenshin," she exhaled, "it's just you." She rested her hand on her chest as if to try and slow down her rapidly beating heart.

"Well who else would it be. Yahiko would never be up this early and if I am correct, neither would you," Kenshin said with eyes narrowing in curiosity.

"Couldn't sleep," Kaoru mumbled.

"Is that so. Is Miss Kaoru sick?"

Kenshin bent down reaching his hand out to place upon Kaoru's forehead causing her to become warm but not from fever. It was a feeling she always got when he touched her. Her body would go tense and her heart would speed up and an iridescent blush would cover her cheeks. He unconsciously moved his hand down the back of her open yukata feeling for any sign of a fever. He then moved to the front resting the top of his hand on the collar bone of her chest. She began to blush furiously as Kenshin became conscious of what he was doing; immediately pulling his hand away.

"Miss Kaoru I'm so sorry.. please I didn't realize, it slipped my mind, I forgot you're not a child.."

Kaoru frowned at that statement because she knew it was true. Every apologetic line he continued to ramble were unknown to Kaoru for her attention lingered on the words forgot and child. Kenshin's main reasons for not returning her feelings was a combination of him not being worthy enough and her being much too young, which was a lame reason considering there were girls younger than her that were married with children already. Kaoru had always over looked the truth, however. She took the fact that him saying she was too young and too pure as him saying "I don't find you the least bit desirable." She should have figured that a simple tom boy like her could never hold the interest of a man slayer.

Kenshin stopped his apologies when he noticed Kaoru was no longer listening. She was concentrated hard on something. His eyes squinted wondering what it was that could have caused her to act like this. Then he realized he had done the worst thing possible. He had called her a child. He could kick himself repeatedly for this one.

He knew exactly what Kaoru thought of him telling her his reasons for not pursuing any kind of a relationship. She found herself to be undesirable, or at least that's what she thought he considered her as. She was completely wrong. She had never noticed the heated glances he had passed her way. The way when they had joked around during play fights how he would pin her down and just ever so lightly that she wouldn't notice rub himself slightly against her. She had no idea how many sleepless nights he had gone through just thinking of her small curved body under his, pressed heatedly together. She didn't know how in his head he could sometimes hear her small innocent moans of pleasure. Everything about her drew him in. Everything she did made him want her more.

He cleared his throat trying to draw her attention. Her head lifted in his direction. He tried to sound as firm as possible, wanting to make his point.

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"Right..of course you didn't." was all she could mutter, laced in a bit of sarcasm and hurt.

Kaoru grabbed the front of her yukata as she began to stand not wanting Kenshin to have to look at her childish, undesirable form when a tight yet gentle hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Kaoru."

'He said my name…' Kaoru had been startled. Very few times had she heard her name said without a Miss added to the front of it. Those few times were when he hadn't been himself. He had become the man from his past. He had become Battousai.

"I didn't mean it that way. I know too well that you're no child." he said firmly. For a second she could swear that his eyes took on a hint of amber, but it was quickly suppressed by his wanderers wide violet eyes. "You aren't a child, that you are not."

Kaoru simply offered him a weak smile, showing that she understood and accepted his apology.

He placed his hand around her forearm and the other taking a strong grasp of her elbow, helping her tired form to stand.

Kaoru looked into his eyes, she loved him touching her, and loved every second of being able to be so close to him. Remorse had always immediately replaced those feelings because she knew that she could never be that close to him as an object of need or want, only when he thought her to be ill, or if she were hurt, or if he had been helping her practice and he had fallen on top of her or pinned her down.

Kenshin saw the sadness reflect off of Kaoru's gaze, he swore that she could tell a whole story just through those beautiful eyes, and he would kick himself for days for calling her a child and being the reason for her grief.

"I think…I'll go try to get some sleep….thank you for helping me up Kenshin," Kaoru quietly said.

When she attempted to walk away his grip only tightened. Kaoru's searching gaze was stopped by Kenshin's bangs shielded his face. She rested her hands lightly on his chest and whispered his name in concern.

"K-Kenshin…?"

She felt her body being pulled closer to his. In no way did she protest, but her mind became frantic with questions. His grip on her upper arms became tighter but not to the point of pain. He brought her into a small hug. Her head rested on his shoulder and his was brought down to her ear.

"I am sorry, Kaoru." He whispered.

"……..I know," she whispered back.

Just as quickly as it had happened he released her, her body falling a little limp from her loss of support.

'What was that about?' she thought.

She brought her hand up the rub the back of her neck, not knowing how to react. He never hugged her. This was something new for her to get used to, though she didn't disagreed with it and surely wouldn't argue otherwise.

"I'm…. going …to go get that sleep now." she stammered giving him a half sheepish smile.

Kenshin nodded his head in understanding and she offered him another small smile. She headed toward her room holding her ear that still felt the sensations of his warm breath on it.

Upon entering her room Kaoru found it not so hard to go to sleep this time. A week with barely any sleep had hit her hard. She was out like a light.

What she would never be aware of were the amber eyes that watched her small figure sleeping.

'Kaoru you have no idea how aware I am of your childlessness.'


	2. I'll Show Him Child

_**Thank you so much for the reviews. I really appreciate them . Here's Chapter 2!**_

**Chapter 2**

Kaoru awoke to bright sun rays illuminating small beams of light through her room. The small particles of dust danced lightly and swayed disappearing and reappearing in the patches of light. She watched them and then smiled. Perhaps they were putting on a small show just for her?

She had guessed that she slept through the entire day and into the next morning. It was then that her mind drifted to what happened yesterday. She reached her hand up once again to brush against her ear and smiled. Her smile soon diminished and she brought her hand down away from her ear. 'I forgot you're not a child' rang over and over again filling her head with Kenshin's voice.

She let out an exasperated sigh while she sat up on her futon and stretched her arms above her head as high as they could reach. They then dropped like lead and her yukata slipped down exposing her back and her shoulders.

With a small click of her shojo door Kenshin's eyes roamed her bare body. He closed his eyes quickly, trying to lock away the other man inside himself that so desperately wanted to get out. His shoe hitting the ground as he backed away brought Kaoru's head to swing around and focus her attention on him. She had seen his eyes closed shut and him back away, as if disgusted by what he saw.

She quickly pulled her yukata up and tied it as tight as possible around her small body. She closed her eyes trying to hold back the tears that she felt begin to form. He was disgusted by the sight of her. She knew he was. He had to of been.

"Is breakfast ready Kenshin?" her voice was betraying her, becoming weak and shaky. She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear, a nervous habit, before looking back over the shoulder at him.

"Actually Miss Kaoru, y-you slept through breakfast, that you did." he replied as he brought back his violet eyes and his innocent gaze.

"…Oh…"

"Sano and Yahiko thought it would be nice to go to the Akabeko for lunch…I figured I would wake you up and see if you would like to join us.."

"Well I'm starved, so yes, I'll go with you. Just give me a few minutes to get changed and ready."

"I'll go tell Sano and Yahiko."

With that he closed her door and walked away. She began blinking back more tears knowing that that is just what he thinks of her to do. Cry, like a _child_.

"I'll show him child" she sternly said.

She walked over to her closet and pulled out not her best kimono, but one nicer than the one that she had always worn. She went with a beautiful light blue with yellow flowers. She thought she'd match the colors to the Spring weather.

She pulled her hair out of her high bun that she had put it in the day before. She had decided against her usual braid to go to sleep in because she had been too tired to even blink. When she unwrapped the hair tie her hair fell down like a cascading black water fall. The ends curled and instead of her flat straight hair it looked lively and wavy. She brought a brush and a ribbon out. When she looked into the mirror she immediately pulled her brush away from her hair deciding she wouldn't wear it up today. She took a small piece from each side of her head in the front of her hair and pinned it back, leaving the rest down. A few loose strands fell out and surrounded her face beautifully.

She then opened a small box that her mother had left to her. It was her make up. Inside were a few bottles of a shimmer powder in different colors. She went with a peach color to cover her cheeks and a pink for her eye lids. In all actuality, you couldn't even tell she was wearing any make up. Her face just looked healthier and brighter. She then dabbed a tiny pit of pink shimmer on her lips and rubbed them together making a popping sound when she was finished spreading it evenly.

She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. For the first time she even thought she looked beautiful. Her brows furrowed when her gaze was brought to her chest. Immediately flashes of Yumi's low, cleavage revealing kimono displayed themselves in her mind.

She quickly shook her head, "Ew…..but….hmmm...I couldn't…could I? "

Kaoru reached down and loosened her top a bit. She undid her wrapping around her chest so that there was more under her breasts, making them a bit more perky and now more visible for everyone to see. She closed the top of her kimono shut, and looked at herself once again in the mirror. She smiled and gave herself the nod approval.

"Not too much to make me seem like a tramp, but just enough to grab some attention. Perfect," she said with a wide smile.

Just before she left her room she grabbed her bottle of perfume and sprayed it into the air walking into scents of jasmine and chamomile. Now she was ready.

She closed her door and regret made her pause. 'How should I act?' she thought. 'Like I know I look different? Should I act different?'. After a minute she decided that she would simply act like herself. As if nothing changed. As if she didn't look different. As if she didn't try. As if she didn't want attention. As if it were simply nothing. It was just any old day, and she was just any old Kaoru.

'Who knows, they probably won't even noti-'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the expression on all three of her friends' faces. The second she appeared at the door Sano was muttering something that sounded like, "Took you long enough", and then they all looked at her, really looked.

All of their eyes went wide and their mouths seemed to hang open. Oh, they noticed alright.

"What…?" She questioned, hoping to somehow bring them out of their shock. "What is wrong with you guys?" She began to walk off the porch and advance further towards them, noticing that their eyes never once left her.

"Kaoru.." Kenshin started.

"You look hot!" Sano finished. Kenshin's gaze snapped from Kaoru to Sano and his eye's narrowed. 'Did he just call _my_ Kaoru hot?'

'Did he just call _me_ hot?' Kaoru thought.

Sano looked from Yahiko who was still gawking at Kaoru, to Kaoru who looked to be shocked by what he had just said, to Kenshin, who looked like he was going to kill him.

"What," he said innocently while rubbing the back of his neck with his hand "she does.."

"Oh, whatever you guys. Let's go." She started toward the Akabeko when she realized no one was following. She turned only to see Yahiko still shocked, Sano seemed worried, and Kenshin looked pissed. 'I wonder what's wrong with Kenshin.'

"Come on," she said annoyed and reached for the closest person next to her. That person happened to be Sano. She grabbed his hand and began pulling him away from the dojo.

The second her hand wrapped around his Kenshin's mind flared with jealousy. His eyes became the most gold they have been in years. No one seemed to notice though. Kaoru still had Sano's hand and Yahiko just sighed and began to follow.

Kaoru's head turned back to the dojo when she realized that Kenshin hadn't followed.

"You guys go ahead, I'll go see what's keeping Kenshin."

"Hurry it up, we're hungry." Yahiko whined.

"Yeah, yeah," she said and waved him off.

"Kenshin," Kaoru called. He was standing in the same place he had been she came out of the dojo. His bangs were covering his eyes and his body seemed tense.

"Kenshin," she said cheerfully. "Everyone is waiting for you."

He didn't reply. He just continued to stand there with his head down, almost as if he was arguing with himself on whether or not he should go.

"Kenshin," she said worriedly. The last thing she wanted to do was annoy him with her constant need to know what he was feeling. So she settled on grabbing his hand, just as she had grabbed Sano's, and start toward the other guys. She was abruptly stopped by Kenshin's relent to leave his position. Sometimes she really did forget how strong Kenshin was. She squeezed his hand lightly and tugged a little.

"Kenshin, you're hungry, I'm hungry, the boys are hungry, and _you're _holding us up!" she said in a kidding manner.

His voice came out harsher than he had intended.

"_You're _the one that held us up by making yourself look like _that_."

Her eyes widened. Was he actually mad at her? In the whole year that she had known Kenshin he had never once been angry with her, and if he was, he never told her or acted as if it were so.

"What's wrong with how I look?" Her voice was a mixed emotion of confusion, innocence, and sadness. What she didn't allow to be heard was the anger. She had decided to go against her usual temper tantrum that she would have normally thrown. She had no intentions of proving him right about his child assumption from the day earlier. She masked her anger with innocence and confusion, adding in a bit of sadness as if to maybe pull him through a little guilt trip. She spoke the words as if "Who me? It's what I normally wear? I think I look nice? Is it not nice? You hate it? I knew you'd hate it!"

She regretted grabbing his hand. She'd figure she'd let her anger out in some fashion and agreed with herself to pull her hand out of his. But her hand went nowhere.

The second he felt her pulling away from him his grip tighten around her small hand. He didn't mean to make her angry. 'Maybe she really doesn't know how different she looks. How wonderful she looks. How beautiful she looks.' He regretted his recent comment toward her. The images of her grabbing Sano's hand and then Sano calling her hot replayed in his mind. There were few things that Kenshin didn't handle well, and jealousy was at the top of that list. He had to think of some way to recover and make her think that nothings wrong. After a few seconds of pondering on the right words to say he figured it out.

'I've got it.'

"Nothing at all Miss Kaoru. I was teasing; getting you back for making me seem like the bad guy keeping you from lunch. That's all."

'He's a horrible liar,' she thought. 'Something is up with him…'

"Well ok, if that's all, then let's go before Sano and Yahiko pitch a fit." She said sweetly.

They remained holding hands until they left the dojo gate. Kenshin didn't want anyone, including her, to get the wrong idea. He couldn't have Kaoru, and the other half of him was going to have to except that. He couldn't dirty her with his blood stained hands. He just couldn't.

Kaoru wasn't surprised when Kenshin let go of her hand. In fact, she anticipated it. She knew exactly when it was coming. 'Doesn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, I see how it is.' She didn't fret on it for long since the Akabeko wasn't a long walk.

For the first time ever, men were looking at Kaoru. If they ever had before, she hadn't notice. But now, it was hard to ignore. Their eyes followed her and their necks turned as far as humanly possible, and some turned even farther.

"Boy, you've got some admirers there Missy," Sano laughed.

Kaoru's cheeks were instantly stained with embarrassment. She'd never had to deal with this before. But hey, you learn something new every day.

"Stop that, no one is looking," she whispered.

"I didn't know necks could turn that far," Yahiko said in amazement.

"I think that guy's drooling," replied Sano. And with that they both began to laugh at the men's stupid faces and how uncomfortable Kaoru was.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered.

Unlike the others, Kenshin had noticed the stares from early on. 'They don't have a chance in hell,' he thought. 'Let it go, she's not yours. They can look all they want,' he reminded himself. 'Oh fuck that. I'll cut their eyes out of their hea-' 'No you won't. You have no claim to her. She's as free as a bird.' His mind mocked him. It didn't stop him from sending stares that made each guy think twice about looking their way.

Kaoru snuck a peek a Kenshin and noticed the looks he was giving the men. 'What the hell? Is he jealous, or just being overprotective?' An evil grin crossed her face. 'Maybe you should play it up a bit. Find out if he's jealous or not.' Her own voice in her head taunted her. She dug deep down into the very bottom of herself and drug up the smallest amount of self confidence and "sex appeal", if you can even call it that.

She raised her head and pulled her shoulders back. 'Why not acknowledge it?' She put a smile on her face and begin handing them around to every guy that had one for her.

When Kenshin noticed that the guys started up again in full force he quickly looked over at Kaoru and did a double take 'What in the hell does she think she's doing?'

One guy walking by brushed against Kaoru's shoulder and she laughed lightly. 'Men, so pathetic,' she thought.

The next guy that walked by was a big guy. Very tall, but not taller than Sano.

"Hi," he said.

Kaoru smiled sweetly. "Hi," she said back.

The man stepped forward toward Kaoru and Kenshin's arm immediately went up blocking him from proceeding any further.

"Good bye," Kenshin said.

The man took one look at Kenshin's gaze and held his hands in front of him. "Hey man, I didn't know. Sorry."

"Well now you do." Kenshin's tone was cool and yet heated. It made shivers go down Kaoru's spine.

'Interesting,' Kaoru thought. 'Very interesting.'

"You should try and ignore them as best as you can Miss Kaoru, that you should," Kenshin started. "Don't react, it will bring you unwanted attention."

"Who said it was unwanted," Kaoru said.

At this point Kenshin's eyes went wide and Sano and Yahiko stopped walking and looked back at her.

"Oh my gosh guys! I was kidding!" she laughed. "You're all so dense sometimes, I swear."

"Still-," Kenshin started but was cut off by Kaoru.

"I know. I was just curious. I wanted to see what they would do if I reacted the way they were." She gave a shrug of her shoulders. "I mean, can you blame me? I've never gotten that attention before. I just wanted to see what it was like. It won't happen again," she smiled at Kenshin. "I promise."

'Good,' Kenshin thought, but of course spoke differently. "I just want you to be safe is all."

Kaoru grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I know you do, I know."

She smiled at him and he smiled back her. Her eyes danced with amusement. Kenshin took notice to this and realized, 'She'd done it on purpose.'

He couldn't help but inwardly laugh to himself. 'My, my Kaoru. I didn't know you had it in you.'

Whether or not she was conscious of what she was making him feel, she was sparking things inside of him that no other person could do. Part of him was intrigued by her ability to play him the way she just had and the other part was just plain angry with her. How could she stoop down so low as to award those pathetic men with her attention. The attention that he wanted directed toward himself, and only himself. He'd decided then that from now on, he'd have to keep a closer eye on Kaoru.


	3. Let the Game Begin

_**So, I'm really sorry for taking about, oh, I'd say a year to post this next chapter. Due to procrastination and the loss of computer access it took a little longer than intended. But I'm trying my best to finish this! Thanks so much for the reviews. -**_

** Chapter 3**

**"Let the Game Begin" **

This lunch at the Akabeko had been the longest that Kenshin ever had to endure. He was tense, and on alert constantly. Every other man had also taken notice to Kaoru's new look and some were getting a little close. Of course, one look at Kenshin made them immediately change course and proceed on with what they had first intended to do.

'_That's right. Move along. Go and get drunk. That's what you came here to do, you filthy pigs. Keep your eyes OFF her.'_

It wasn't just the men that had caused Kenshin to be uncomfortable. With every move the chopsticks made from the bowl to her pout little lips he became more transfixed.

"Kenshin," her voice made him shutter and quickly snapped his gaze from her mouth to her eyes. "Kenshin, you've barely touched your food."

"That I have not, Miss Kaoru. I've seemingly lost my appetite." He pushed a sappy smile onto his face and watched as she looked at him questioningly.

She lightly shrugged her shoulders, "Ok," and surprisingly left it at that. No whining. No worrying. She usually would push further, but this time did not. She simply continued on eating.

'_Strange_,' Kenshin watched her closer.

'_I'm not his mother_,' she thought. '_I'm not pushing anymore. It's gotten me nowhere in the past. Obviously, it won't get me anywhere now._'

He watched her think. She was so unsuspecting sometimes. Kaoru's face was one of the most expressional faces he had ever come across. Every thought she had, played outwardly across every move of her mouth and furrow of her brows. Her eyes were the worst. He could practically predict what she was feeling just by looking into them. The fact that he had so many years of experience reading people meant that he could take it a step further. He could get into her head if he really wanted to. He could invade her most private and personal thoughts. But that _would be _taking it too far. She was just a beautiful young girl that had made her home his. She wasn't anyone that posed a threat to him. Therefore, he'd stay out of her head…

'_For now_,' a dark voice inside his head said sternly. '_I'll let you watch her…for awhile, Rurouni. But only for a while. Because after a while I get bored. And when I get bored, I get angry. I'll let you keep your distance now. But when the time comes, I'll have my fun, too._' Kenshin's eyes shut tightly, trying to force himself to not pay attention to the thoughts of his past self. Problem being, it was becoming harder, much harder, to ignore him. The Battousai was becoming more and more persistent. Kaoru didn't realize that her game she was playing would be turned around drastically on her. Soon, it would become more than just a game.

"Uhhhhh..you goin to eat that?…"

A voice broke Kenshin from his thoughts. He looked up to see Sano staring at him blankly with small pieces of rice covering most of his face.

"No," Kenshin simply said. Sano immediately reached over, grabbed the bowl, scarffed it down in less than minute, and then let out a loud burp.

Yahiko laughed, Kenshin shook his head, and Kaoru just gave a small smile and shook her head as well.

"You're disgusting," she told Sano.

"You love it," he snapped back at her, giving her a sheepish sly smile, and a wink.

"You're an idiot," she rolled her eyes and finished the last of her food. Nevertheless, Kenshin couldn't help take notice to the slight pink flush that covered her cheeks.

'_What the hell. I'll rip his eyes out. Then we'll see if he can still wink. Moreover, what the hell is her problem? First grabbing his hand and now blushing at stupid looks he gives her._'

Kaoru placed her bowl down on the table and couldn't help but feel as if someone was staring at her. She looked up and was taken aback by the sharp gaze of Kenshin. She froze, eyes wide, body tense. '_What's going on?_' Her heart started to beat rapidly and she became very uncomfortable. Panic filled her body. It was then she realized that she had only ever felt this way once before. This gaze was not the gaze of Kenshin. It was the gaze of..

'_Battousai_,' her brain screamed but her body sat motionless. She felt as if her body was drained completely of all self-control. She swallowed harshly in attempts to pull herself together. "W-w-hat…," she managed to force out.

"Let's go," Kenshin said more harshly than intended and stood up slowly from the table.

Kaoru's brows furrowed in confusion and anger. _'What am I? A dog? Hah, or better yet. A child? I leave when he says it's time to go? I sit when he tells me to sit? I stand when he tells me to stand? Yeah, don't think so. Nice try though.' _So she stayed seated, not moving an inch. She was surprised when her ear was embraced with the warmth of Kenshin's breath, just as it had been the night before.

"I said, _Let's go_. I want to go." Unlike his warm breath, his voice was cold and it took everything in Kaoru to not obey him. She swallowed hard again and regained composure.

"I'm not ready," she said sternly.

"I am."

"Then _you _can go." Laced with sarcasm, her words had struck a nerve. She could feel his cold stare on her back and somehow she had the nerve to turn around and face him. Still sitting, weight rested on her shins, she stared up at him.

"I'm not leaving you here," he said.

She giggled softly, meant more in insult than amusement. "I'll be fine Kenshin. I'm not a _child."_ She watched his mouth open and then quickly close. His eyes squinted in the remembrance of the night before. '_Ouch. I almost forgot about that._' His face then went expressionless.

"Have it your way," he said dismissively. "I'll see you back at the dojo." And then he was gone, disappearing out the front door. Kaoru laughed again, this time in triumph. Talk about hitting him where it hurts. She sat, chin held high and couldn't resist but patting herself on the back. '_Good job._'

Sano took a break from attempting to breathe. "Did I, uh, miss something?"

"No..I-" It was then that a plan began to form in Kaoru's head. Kenshin had gotten jealous when Sano called her "hot". Kenshin had also gotten jealous when she had grabbed Sano's hand. And just before she was pretty sure he had gotten mad because of the comment Sano had made about her loving his disgusting habits. It had struck her. The one thing that Kenshin was unable to handle had always been jealousy. She saw the glint of gold flicker in his eyes when any man looked at her but always dismissed it, thinking it was nothing but the light or her imagination. Light - it wasn't. Her imagination - not that either. It was _him._ She'd decided then that she would use whatever she could to make Kenshin as jealous as humanly possible. But who would be her willing victim. Her eyes set directly on Sano and a sheepish smile covered her face.

Sano stared blankly at her. "….what?"

Her grin turned to a small smile and she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh nothing. You'll see."

The stupid look never left his face. "Uhm, alright."

"Who's ready to go home?!," Kaoru said, a little too excitedly.

Sano and Yahiko exchanged questioningly glances. Sano chuckled when Yahiko made a crazy hand gesture toward Kaoru. Kaoru, however, was too lost in thought to take notice and therefore, Yahiko managed an insult without repercussions, which was all too rare.

They exited the Akabeko and began walking home. Eyes followed Kaoru the entire way. But these were not the eyes of the men that were everywhere. No, these were eyes of molten gold. These were eyes that watched Kaoru deep in thought. These were eyes that she would eventually come to face to face with. If _he_ had anything to say about it, that is.

Kaoru had no idea that the game she was about to start would turn into something much more interesting than a simple game of jealousy.


	4. An Unfamiliar Feeling

**_What's this?! Another chapter?! So soon?! Shocking, I know. I worked hard to get this one done! I'm trying hard guys. I promise to finish this. Well, i hope you enjoy!_**

**Chapter 4 **

**"An Unfamiliar Feeling"**

Upon entering the dojo Kaoru found it to be rather quiet. She surveyed the surroundings and realized there was no sign of Kenshin. '_Huh,_' she thought. '_Where is he?_' On any given day he'd be doing laundry, sitting around, or helping Kaoru with the chores. He was doing neither. She wanted to not care. She wanted to not need to know where he was every second of the day. She wanted to him to want her. The problem being, if you want to make someone jealous, then said person needs to be visible and able to be made jealous. Kenshin was the core of her plan. The driving force. Without him, it just wasn't possible. Without him, there was no plan. So where was he?

She slid the dojo door open and stepped inside. Sano had taken a seat against one of the posts on the porch; he wasn't going anywhere any time soon. So Kaoru took this time to go and quick change into something a little more moveable. On her way to her room she came to a stop and her eyes set on Kenshin's door. It was slightly ajar. She couldn't help herself. She tip toed to the door and peeked in. Her eyes searched the dark room, but there was still no Kenshin. She gave a heavy sigh. "Oh well."

Kaoru headed down the hall and into her room. She quickly slipped into her regular white practice yukata and tied it tightly around her waste. Bending over, she reached for her pants but when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she stopped. Still hunched over she stared. '_I couldn't.' _ She stood up and let the pants fall into a pile around her ankles. She stepped out of them, flicking them aside with her foot and took a closer look. '_Could I?_' She examined herself. The yukata came down right above her knees. It wasn't too short that she was giving it all away, however, her legs were in plain view. Not something the average Japanese had visible to the world. It **was** god awful hot outside. The after noon sun sat high up in the cloudless sky. That could be her excuse. That would be her excuse. She'd do it. She flipped her hair over and pulled it up into a playful pony tail on top of her head. She was going for cute. Not sexy. She wasn't ready for sexy yet. In fact, she was pretty sure she didn't know how to be sexy. She was a 17 year old girl. She'd be surprised if she could pull of cute for right now. She grabbed her shoes and walked quickly outside, attempting to see if Sano was where she had last left him. Hopping on one leg with her hair pouncing every which way she slid a shoe onto her foot. She took a couple more hops toward and out the door in attempts to put on her other shoe when she suddenly felt the floor fall out from under her. She let out a small squeak of surprise. Obviously she missed the fact that there were steps right in front of her and she was on her way to a lovely face first meeting with the ground she was plummeting towards. Until, that is, a strong arm wrapped tightly around her waist. She felt nothing then except for her heart pounding in her ears and the warm body pressed tightly around her back. She smiled with delight. '_**There**__ he is!_' She turned her head as she spoke.

"Thanks so much Ken-SANO!!?….oh."

"Oh, it's no problem. But I think you forgot half of your clothes there missy," he said as a wide grin began to cover most his face.

Kaoru blushed furiously. "I-I…I uhm. It's…it's…a….it's…hot! THAT'S RIGHT! It's too hot! Too, too hot out for all those clothes…….And…Uh…B-besides, you practically run around without a shirt on more than half the time. So why can't I run around without any? Er, uh. Without any pants, that is.." She laughed nervously.

Sano scratched his head with his free hand. "Actually, I don't know. Seems fair to me. I don't mind." His gaze went from the sky back down to her accompanied by that same grin when he said he didn't mind. His other arm was still tightly wrapped around Kaoru's small waist, holding her very close to him. It seemed as though neither of them noticed. A cough broke them from their conversation and both their heads snapped quickly forward.

"Am I interrupting something?," the voice came in a cool sarcastic tone that struck a nervous nerve in both Kaoru and Sano making them pull away from each other fast. Kaoru beginning tugging nervously at the bottom of her yukata and Sano rubbed the back of his neck.

"I was putting on my shoes," Kaoru started.

"But she was hopping on one foot," Sano explained.

"Then the stairs came out of nowhere."

"And I saw her headed toward to the ground."

"Face first."

"Yeah, face first."

"Then Sano saved me."

"I quick grabbed her."

"And I didn't break my face."

"And she didn't break her face."

"Sano's a hero."

"Yeah, I'm a hero."

With their voices high and shaky, they explained themselves at the pace of two little kids that had just been caught doing something wrong.

Kenshin's gaze drifted from Kaoru to Sano and then settled on Kaoru. His eyes mercilessly roamed her long slender white legs, moved up to her curvaceous chest, followed up her neck, and finally rested right on her eyes. Out of nervousness Kaoru began to gently bite her lips. His darted straight to them and she stopped immediately. '_Interesting choice of clothes_, 'he thought. This was a weird feeling for Kenshin. He didn't see her as a young innocent girl. But he wasn't fighting back the back the Battousai's lust for hurting her. He was just letting himself feel, like he did just before at the Akabeko. He took his gaze off Kaoru and took a look at Sano. It was then he lost the feeling of ease and felt it harder to withhold the Battousai's rage. He didn't really like Sano. And after today. He hated him. Kenshin and Sano got a long just fine. Battousai and Sano, that was a different story.

"Marvelous," he said. Then he walked past the two of them, brushing roughly past Kaoru, and went into the dojo. She stumbled back a foot or two and then darted a glanced towards Kenshin's back. _'That. Was rude. But never the less, interesting. He must have been there the entire time…..Yay for clumsiness, I guess..'_

"So…," Sano said. "That was really awkward. Did he seem really pissed? Like all day? Maybe he's having a bad day..oor…something.."

Kaoru shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno, maybe." She knew exactly what was wrong with him. What she didn't realize was that she was putting herself in a dangerous position. And Sano as well. What she didn't realize was that she wasn't making Kenshin want her; she was just annoying the Battousai to the point where he was becoming physically mean and aggravated. The more she used Sano, the more Battousai would target him. And the more Kaoru pissed off the Battousai, the more he would target her, too. She needed to stop being cute and giggly and start being sexy. She needed to act like a woman. She needed to make Kenshin jealous in a sexual way, not in an annoyed way. The issue was that she didn't know how. Without mistakenly doing something that she didn't even intend on doing, she couldn't get his attention. It'd be best for her if she figured it out soon.

* * *

Kenshin sat in the darkness of his room, trying to get his thoughts together. All he could picture was Kaoru. Kaoru standing there. Kaoru standing there in nothing but a yukata. Sano touching Kaoru. Kaoru blushing. 

'_She's driving me crazy. I can tell she has something up her sleeve. She's planning something. And it involves me. And it looks as if it involves Sano, too. Maybe she doesn't even realize she's even doing anything…She is, after all, just an innocent teenager.'_

'_You really under estimate her too much.' _Here came the all too familiar voice that resided inside of Kenshin. Always and forever a part of him._  
_

'_What do you mean I under estimate her?'_

'_She's trying to make you jealous, you idiot. Can't you see that? And she's using that jackass Sano to do just that. And look, its working. She's got you in here talking to me and all flustered. You're a man. Start acting like it. Do something about it.'_

'_No.'_

'_Have it your way. I don't care what you do. All I know is that she'd better knock off this cutesy bullshit before I get fucking fed up with her.'_

'_You won't touch her.'_

'_I'll do more than touch her.'_

'_I won't let you.'_

'_You don't have a choice. I'm stronger than you are. Always have been. Always will be. If I want out, I'll get out. And when the time comes, I'll do just that.'_

'_You'll do no such thi-'_

'_What do you need her around for anyway? She's a neusense. Always getting in the way. Always being kidnapped by someone or something. Your life would be so much easier without her. Let me help you out.'_

'_No.'_

'_Come on. I'll make it kind of quick. We both know I'd have to have a little bit of fun first. You don't just kill a girl that looks like that.'_

'_I SAID NO. NOW SHUT UP.'_

The Battousai went quiet and Kenshin calmed himself down. He needed to warn Kaoru that she was playing with something worse than fire. Kenshin didn't want to come close to hurting her and the Battousai would do whatever he wanted with her, if given the chance. He needed to find a way to approach her and make her understand without embarrassing her, or hurting her feelings, or worse. Making her angry. If he made her angry, she may come back at him with ten times more force than she was coming at him with now. He couldn't have that happen. He didn't want to admit it, but the Battousai was right. If he wanted out, he'd find a way to get out. He had always found a way out. He needed to find Kaoru and he needed to fast before she found out that Battousai's idea of fun differed greatly from hers. Immensely, even.

Kenshin sat back for a few more minutes, remembering the feeling he had before while looking at Kaoru. It was a calm feeling, but he felt warm. He felt hot. When she began biting her lips this feeling became almost unbearable and he knew he had to leave. It was strange. It was almost as if he and the Battousai had become one. A man with the rurouni's heart and the Battousai's lust. But could that be possible? For now all Kenshin could do was try and keep the Battousai at bay. When things calmed down, he'd focus more on this unfamiliar feeling.

It was time to find Kaoru.


End file.
